Facilis Descensus Averno
by Charis M
Summary: The descent into hell is easy (Virgil).  Integra's unwilling journey will lead her into the depths, but the return from hell is far less than certain.  [ongoing; updated 07 Feb 2005]
1. Prologue: The Road to Heaven

**Facilis Descensus Averno**  
by Charis

_Disclaimer: None of this is mine. Based off the manga._

_Notes: This is primarily a teaser; I have no idea how long it'll take me to finish this fic, nor even precisely where it's headed. This _is_, however, an effort at writing a longer (read: multichaptered) fic, in the hopes that maybe then I can go back to writing one-shots in peace. -P I blame my friend Loki for this one, though it's partly being written because I was never quite happy with the ending to "Helianthus".  
Again: there is no set timeline for when any of this will come out, except sporadically. I go to school full-time and I work on top of that, so I make no promises._

**Prologue: the Road to Heaven**

_Don't you see yon broad, broad road  
Lying lies across the lily leaven?  
That is the road to wickedness  
Though some call it the road to heaven.  
- Traditional, "Thomas the Rhymer"_

The taste of failure was bitter on her lips; or perhaps that was the blood which bubbled up with each laboured breath. She didn't even know why she was bleeding, why it hurt so much, though she dimly recalled the loud crack of a gunshot and collapsing. It was too much effort to move, even to feel whether the bullet had in fact hit her. A part of her analysed it clinically (punctured and collapsed lung, possibly grazed the heart, likely hit the spinal column, given that she could barely feel her limbs), but most of her attention focussed around her. The gunshots had quieted, except for the occasional burst; the battle was almost over. Even if they _had_ won, she had still failed: Hellsing was in shambles, and with her dead, who would keep the vampire in check? But she kept her eyes open and looked around as best she could, though her vision blurred and darkened at the edges, and tried to figure out what had come.

Red hazed her vision, but not blood, though he was stained with it. Alucard knelt before her, head bowed; he had lost his hat somewhere in the fight, and his hair was a shadow against the crimson of his coat, blending with the darkness that seemed to film everything she saw. "Your orders," he murmured, "my Master."

"A - lu -" It was hard to speak; each syllable was stained with her blood, forced past the thickness that clotted her throat. At least it did not hurt - none of this really hurt, somehow, and that should have been strange.

His eyes glittered as he lifted his gaze to hers. She was vaguely aware that she should be worried by that, but it took too much effort. "You are dying," he said, with something like wonder in his voice - wonder and a little fascination. "Surely, Master, you don't want to die."

_'Don't be an idiot!'_ she snapped, and though it was only a thought, he heard it and laughed, threw back his head and roared with amusement. Aggravation made adrenaline surge through her veins, brought enough energy to push herself up - oh God, so weakly - and glare at him. "Servant -" Two syllables, easier than his name.

He sobered before she could go on, with an alacrity which surprised her. "A thousand pardons, my Master," he said, and there was only a hint of the expected sarcasm in the words. "Rest now. I will attend to everything."

She wanted to protest. She _should_ be protesting, really. But that adrenaline had lasted only a fraction of an instant, and once more incredibly weary, she acceded and lay back. As her eyes drifted closed, she was aware only of Alucard's hand, so cold even through the glove's fabric, pushing bloodied hair back from her face - and then, only darkness.


	2. Chapter One: Nothing Left But Hell

**Facilis Descensus Averno**  
by Charis

_Disclaimer: None of this is mine. Based off the manga._

_Notes: I think I'm going to have to make my chapters shorter than I had originally intended if I'm ever going to update this; either that, or this will be the first part of Chapter 1, and eventually I'll write the rest of what I'd intended to go in this part. I tried to write more, but it just wouldn't work right now. I blame cold meds. Non-drowsy, my sainted aunt.  
The quote is more over the top than I'd originally intended; there was a method to the madness at some point._

**Chapter One: Nothing Left But Hell**

_I am in a box  
I am locked inside  
Someone owns the locks  
Nowhere left to hide  
Nothing left but hell  
No one left to be  
- Kathy Mar, "Box"_

A hand cradled the back of her head, supporting her. The other curved up along her jaw, wrist against her lips, and she was drinking greedily, heat sliding down her throat -

It took only the space of a heartbeat to figure out what was happening. She thrust his hands away from her in sudden disgust, turned her head and spat furiously, but even in that moment's thought, she knew it was too late. The space of a heartbeat, indeed, but it would have to be another's heart.

"What have you done?" she whispered, horrified, though she knew the answer. He only smiled.

"You did not wish death." The words were deceptively mild, almost innocuous, but his eyes gleamed with delight. She knew he had waited for this moment; he had made that abundantly plain to her over the years. She had just never expected that it would actually come. Despite the sudden wave of revulsion and self-loathing, she managed to glare daggers at him.

"This is supposed to be better? I might as well _be_ dead!"

This time he made no verbal response, only continued to smile that same small, infuriating smirk. She drew back, drove her fist into his face with all the fury she could muster. There was the crunch of bone, but it brought no satisfaction, especially when he simply healed the wound without comment. She gave in to rage, knowing that the other emotions which lurked near would only make the situation worse. She could ill-afford to give in to despair.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking? Explain yourself, Alucard!"

"No."

She froze. "What?"

"No," and, mockingly, "Integra."

The wards. The bloody, be-damned wards. The only things holding him in check. The wards wrought with the blood of a Hellsing - the blood which no longer flowed through her veins, but stained her clothes and his lips. As though to mock her, his tongue snaked out and licked a drop away from the corner of his mouth; his teeth were stained red as he grinned at her.

"A fine twist this is, is it not? The master becomes the mastered."

This time, she spat in his face. "If you think that I - that I would _ever_ listen to you, obey you, then you've gone completely insane! Wards or no wards, you gave me your oath, and I'm bloody well going to hold you to it!"

She was grasping at straws, and they both knew it - but he _had_ sworn, and she would do everything she possibly could to make sure that he would obey that old oath, even if it meant somehow binding him to another, and she suspected he knew as much. Still, his smile taunted her. "So I am vowed to your orders, and your will is bound to mine. We are at impasse."

Determinedly ignoring him, Integra rose. Her limbs were no longer shaky; that first wave of fury had washed away all vestiges of her injury. She did not need to feel her ribs to know that the bullet hole was long gone, as were the marks from where he had drained her blood. Around her, the charred remains of suburbia still smouldered, but all traces of the enemy were long since gone. It was still night, with the full moon (hunter's moon, her mind supplied, remembering Alucard's phrase of choice) just reaching its zenith, and she could see clearly around her the bodies - her men; they had been fighting ghouls, and the dust from those creatures lay thick atop blood and ash.

"The mission was successful?" It was not quite a question.

Alucard moved up behind her; he did not touch her, but she could feel his presence in every fibre of her body. "Yes."

Victory tasted like ashes and old blood, and no less bitter than failure. She nodded grimly and strode to the entryway, where the shattered remnants of Hellsing's forces were grouping.


End file.
